Is Stunned Meat Halal?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
We’ve recently been told by our mosque that all stunned meat is haram as there is no guarantee that the animal, whether it is a chicken, cow, or sheep, did not die from the stunning. Statistics show that it is possible that up to 30% of cattle that are stunned may die from the stunning prior to slaughter.
Taking the above into consideration, from a Hanafi perspective, would you be able to advise whether stunned meat may be consumed and considered halal? It is increasingly difficult to find non-stunned meat in the UK and EU, with more and more animal welfare regulations that oppose the Shariah method.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
If an animal is not killed by stunning, even though stunning is not allowed, it is still permissible to consume it as halal. This is why we must rely on organizations with complete due process from beginning to end to ensure care has been taken.
In the UK, it is better to rely on HMC and any similar organizations that have full due process. Below is a link to issues regarding mechanical slaughtering and stunning.
You can find out which shops/restaurants they have given a certificate to.
I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.
Related Answers
- The Issue of Halal Meat (A Detailed Article) – SeekersGuidance
- Halal Meat Archives – SeekersGuidance
- Can We Eat Machine Slaughtered Meat? – SeekersGuidance
- Issues of Mechanical Slaughter and Stunning – Halal Monitoring Committee (halalhmc.org)
- https://halalhmc.org/outlets/
- What Are the Things Deemed Filthy in the Hanafi School? – SeekersGuidance
- Key Principles Relating to Certainty, Doubt, and Baseless Misgivings (waswasa) – SeekersGuidance
- A Reader on OCD and Waswasa (Baseless Misgivings) (seekersguidance.org)
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
